Boys Wrestling Finishes 8th Place At State Tournament; Highest In Program History

Sullivan clinched 8th out of 47 teams with 57.5 points at the MSHSAA Boys Class 2 State Championship from Feb. 21-22 and achieved their highest-ever placement in program history. They brought eleven wrestlers to the Mizzou Arena in Columbia, with two clinching third place: senior Colton Brendel and junior Conner Roach.

Eagles head coach Carl Lawrence is immensely proud of his team’s historic finish at state, saying, “The biggest thing I hope they all take away is the fact they gave their best effort and walked away with the highest placement in program history of 8th, it took a team and everyone’s effort to do so, not everyone walked away with a medal but due to the fight in every wrestler we scored tournament points across the board. The experience of going to the state tournament and our fun there was great. It was a season I, as a coach, would never forget; we had great things happen this season as a team and individually for our guys. It is sad to see some of our seniors leave the program, but I am happy of the foundations they have left for the future Sullivan wrestlers.”

Brendel (40-5) scored 19 team points in the 165 class. He emerged victorious in his first two rounds, with a 2:41 fall over Tyler Estes (Cameron) and a 5-2 decision over Gage St. Clair (Moberly). His only loss came in the semifinal match against the undefeated Elijah Sanders (Richmond). But Brendel bounced back by beating Brenden Marquess (Marshall) in a 9-0 major decision and Colton Roark (Cassville) in a 2:18 pin.

Roach (37-4) tallied 19.5 team points in the 132 class. He trudged through six rounds, losing only his quarterfinal match. Roach locked up Kaiden Caudle (Blair Oaks) in 2:12 and won by a technical fall over Liam Borgsmiller (Orchard Farm) in his first two wins. In his last three rounds, he claimed victory in a 14-3 major decision over Jayden Davis (Boonville), a 14-0 decision over Eli Manley (Seneca) and a 9-4 decision over Ryne Marcum (Excelsior Springs).

Sophomore Camden Henderson (35-10) scored 6 points in the 113 class, senior Dominic Ransom (31-9) earned 5 points in the 144 class and senior Adam Peregoy (39-9) collected 5 points in the 150 class by seizing two wins.

Junior Eli Peregoy (13-4) grabbed 2 points in the 138 class and senior Dayton Skaggs (24-16) scored one team point in the 190 class, with each getting a victory.

Junior Carter Blankenship (27-15) in the 120 class, sophomore Oliver Borton (26-19) in the 126 class, senior Kane Strehl (25-23) in the 175 class and senior Jeremiah Rodriguez (13-13) in the 215 class did not secure a win on the mat.

The Henderson, Ransom, Skaggs, Blankenship, Borton, Strehl, Rodriguez, Adam and Eli Peregoy placements were unknown.

In the Class 2 Top 10 rankings, Odessa ranked 1st with 163.5 points, St. Michael the Archangel Catholic (142) followed at 2nd, Blair Oaks (108) secured 3rd place, Seneca and Ste. Genevieve tied for 4th with 104 points, Pleasant Hill (103) ranked 6th, Mid-Buchanan (63.5) landed 7th, Sullivan (57.5) took 8th, Mexico (56.5) finished 9th and Moberly (54) placed 10th.

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